Santro GL - Excellent Car in This Segment

[kannan]

Which is the brand you are now using for 90-100 & what's the cost please?

Better use Philips . Osram is also good, but Better light output is from Philips.
alternately you may try the Extreme Power from Philips is is 60/55 but gives ~90% more light at the expense of life.

as per RTO regulations we are not supposed to use 100/90 W.

moreover after one or two years your lights lens will look yellow due to the extreme heat produced by halogen 100w

You can go in for Philips extreme 90/100 or you can also try out osram night breakers 55/60.Both provide good job with the lights thrown.

I got poor feedback on osram nightbreakers. a guy replaced them for Philips in a nearby shop. they don't have extreme vision 60/55 so i am wating for the stock to arrive

 

[macsvin]

Thanks. I will change it soon & update once done. As of now running short of Vitamin M

 

[dodge_v1per]

congrats dude!! atleast you can post some pics!!

 

[macsvin]

I have already the pics in my CAM but my laptop is dead past few days. The laptop should be up by next weekend & on the same day I will upload the pics for sure

 

[anilkumarmo]

Which is the brand you are now using for 90-100 & what's the cost please?

I am using phillips. I am given to understand that osram is also good. But when you put a 90-100 you need to put a relay also. The relay ensures that the battery is not loaded. I dont remember the exact cost but i think the relay and headlamps put together would be close to a 1000. I'll revert on this.

 

[macsvin]

Currenetly I am holding off for upgrading the lamps due to lack of Vitamin M :( and also I am bit busy in my office work & hence no weekends for car. I will do a fresh analysis after a month or so & then change the lamps. Will surely update once done.

 

[macsvin]

Santro GL completes 50000 Kms in 5 Yrs

Last week my Santro completed 50K on its ODO. The bad news is the pics got deleted from my cell and have left with empty album. I will still have some quick shots of latest conditions and upload it over the weeknd.
Anyhow I would like to share my experience on this long term ownership report. I thought of writing many things but when I actually started typing I understood that I’m not a good writer and was able to complete my post in mere few points.
The saga started 5 years before buying new car. For my tight budget I had left with 3 options Estilo, WagonR and Santro. Estilo was ruled out since no one at my home liked it. There was tough completion going on between Santro and WagonR. My pops was saying lets go with reputed brand of Maruti since these are the cars you a see in more number on roads. Also neighbours gave +1 for Maruti for its FE and spare parts availability.
When me and my wife went to test drive Santro we both liked it & finally convinced dad for this & went ahead and booked Santro GL. I had opted for SBI loan and the car was delivered within 1 week. No issues or concern faced. Managed to get a good deal from Sanjay Hyundai dealer with free insurance, Intex CD Player & 2 front Speakers, filming & Hyundai remote central locking, reverse horn, mud flaps, matting.
The dealer experience was good enough. I was quite new to purchase of cars and was not actively involved in any of the forums. Although I had taken help our best friend Google to search various reviews.
I managed to take my car to Sanjay Hyundai service Centre for first 3 servicing only. Somehow I lack the confidence if they are really putting any efforts to keep my Santro in new condition & is my car been serviced properly. So after discussing with my old mechanic who use to take care of our old fiat I decided to take risk and void the warranty and not to use Hyundai ASS for my Santro. Then onwards I am getting my servicing done from our local mechanic.
It’s a 3 day process for servicing my Santro but don’t mind doing it since I do it twice a year. First day I go myself and get the car pressure washed and then send car for servicing. He takes usually 2-3 hours & most likely part is I’m there to monitor all the things carried out. I purchase oil from shell and the mechanic changes it in front of me. What a peace of mind to see that your car is been serviced completely in front of you. Next day I go to tyre shop do the wheel rotation & alignment and third day take my car for polishing from my watchman
Till now I have carried out below changes in car
1. Tyres changed at 34K – yes earlier I was not in habit to do tyre rotation and alignment and that’s the result . My tyres worn out much earlier than expected. Changed with alloy wheels & upsized to 165/70. Got a good sporty look.
2. Battery changed at 48K Kms. I have changed to sonic from excide. There was no indication of my old battery giving up but one fine morning seems battery got a massive heart attack and had to change it immediately.
That’s all no changes other than above 2 points are done till date. Yes ofcourse after 2 year I did upgrade my system to Sony Xplod HU, Sony speakers in front & JBL speakers at rare tray.
Few outstanding issues in Santro
1. While braking recently noticed that at speeds above 60 the car is making scratching noise and I can feel the steering wobble. I had done rotation and alignment just 2K kms back so need to check with mechanic what the culprit here is.
2. Rear right side window / door is making “Kich Kich” sound on rough road. Need to check for rubber beddings. (not a major issue though but I like a silent car)
I was in thought process of changing the car after 5 Yrs or 50 Kms whichever is earlier but looking at my M Power I think this year I cannot upgrade my car.

 

[vijay]

Nice to hear back from you mahesh, and good to see you enjoying your long term ownership without much of any major issues with your santro.
2K kms back alingment and balancing seems was not done properly which might be still the issue with the wobble you feeling on steering.
Also check along with the beading the under support dont knw what its called which holds on to the glass,some adjustments there and it solves this noise,have done the same in a friends santro so know it.
Did you changed the lights you had planned earlier?
Pictures mate its 2011 thread and you have still left it without any pictures of your ride.

 

[alexddas]

Guys,santro Zing that is the most trusted car back here for a rent-a-car,as you all know in rent-a-car, the customer himself is driving the car.( as we all know the drivers differ in their style of driving),All my cars had crossed 80000kms on rent and some is still running above 130000kms without any major issue.That's one engine i would suggest we can relay on.

The main part in santro i love is the handling in the city traffic,the power steering response is remarkable and the initial power is good and helps to cruise through the traffic,i am a real fan of this car.

And please note that it has the same re-sale value of that of a wagonR (back here).

@ macsvin

The scratching sound and steering wobble is may be due to the brake pad and brake disc,polish the brake disc and check the brake pad, the disc may have major scratches resulting in the sound and steering wobble.

 

[macsvin]

@ Vijay - No upgrades on Santro. Last year I use to travel more on highways and that why I felt to upgrade the lights. But recently for long drives I usally rent a car and Santro is used for office commute or city drive only. So I guess the current lights are enough for city ride.
@ Alexddas - I feel the culprit to be brake disc issue since I had done the brake servicing at about 15K odd Kms & have not touched it till date. Will be checking with my mechanic soon.

 

[macsvin]

Hi Freinds
I saw 2 issues in my Santro in last 2 days.
1. While I was checking the engine area I found white powder (due to acid) on upper part of battery. The battery is new one (2 months old). Since it was bit late in night me and my friend just took the volt meter and saw that the battery is getting over charged. The readings for a normal charged battery should be around 12.5 to 13.5 but in my case the reading was 15.5. Although I am not expert in this but my friend said that this issue is usually casued due to fault in alternator and the same needs to be repaired. The cost might be around 1.5K.
2. I 3 year old kid was insisting to switch on the radio while I have to go to bakery to buy stuff but what I noticed that I cannot remove the key unless I have completed locked the ignition. What I mean is I Have to locked the steering in order to remove the key. But the deck won't start (which is obvious). But in this case either I have to keep my kid crying or keep the keys in ON mode so that he can listen to his songs. But keeping kys in car and kid in the car was very risky since now he tries to play with ther keys. Please suggest if this is normal?